Proudly Made In India - Without the Swadeshi Bullc**p

5 GOOD REASONS

My company, Ushtara Engineering Pvt. Ltd., makes, among other things, Prosthetics and Orthotics. Some frequent questions that potential customers ask me are;
"Why should I buy your product, when I can buy the Chinese product cheaper?"
or
"If I need top Quality why should I buy from Ushtara and not this German company?"
or
"What advantage does buying from Ushtara offer me over buying from an importer of Chinese products?"

This is my attempt at giving you 5 reasons to buy from an Indian Company, especially one like Ushtara Engineering Pvt. Ltd. 

5 GOOD REASONS. Not some meaningless Gandhian-Ideological mumbo-jumbo like "be Indian buy Indian"

But first; a little competition analysis,

THE COMPETITION

We are competing in our mobility related endeavors with two types of manufacturers.

On the one hand, we compete with  giant European and American firms like Ottobock and Ossur, some of them a century or more old.

On the other hand there are literally hundreds of Chinese manufacturers, like these guys and these guys, offering products of widely differing quality and price.

There are also others in this sector, like the state owned Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India and the Jaipur Foot Organization, but their products are either heavily subsidized or donated, so technically we are not competing with them.

A CASE STUDY

This is the Prosthetic Polycentric Knee that we manufacture;

It's called the XR2501. The Maximum Retail Price is INR 28,500.  A comparable Chinese product costs INR 4,000 Ex-Shanghai and retails for about INR 6,500 in India. A German or American product with similar functionality costs INR 70,000 in India. 

SO WHY BUY FROM USHTARA?

Here as promised are 5 good reasons;

1. COST 

Typically my customer, who buys the product from Ushtara, is not the end user. Rather my customer is the organization or technician who fits the prosthetic to the user.

Here are some of the costs you will incur if you buy a foreign product albeit one with a cheaper retail price;

i) Inventory costs:
The price quoted by many foreign companies especially Chinese companies, is for a certain Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ), which means that you probably have to buy more pieces of product than you have current orders for.

Because it takes 20 days to 6 weeks to ship to India from Europe / America / China. You are going to have to predict your demand at least that much in advance.

If you make a decision to buy from Ushtara, you have a lead time of only 3 working days on small orders.

ii) Quality Costs:
If you end up with a defective Chinese product, at best, they will replace it for you and you will have to bear the shipping and the cost of the additional time. At worst, you will have to absorb the entire acquisition cost.

As for the dent in your credibility...that's a cost few could carry.

Ushtara will replace defective products in 3 working days.

2. Accountability

i) A common legal framework:
How do you take legal action against a foreign supplier who reneges on his promise? Is it even worth the trouble?

Because Ushtara Engineering Pvt. Ltd., is a Company registered and located in India, we are subject to Indian Laws and Jurisdiction. Our contract with you says as much.

ii) A common ecosystem:
Ottobock supplies millions of components to the whole world. Chinese companies are powerhouses of cheap manufacturing. Compared to their total sales, your purchase is peanuts.

Because Ushtara works in a common ecosystem with you. We care about what you think. Your opinion has a direct impact on our future revenues.

iii) Common standards:
With every purchase that you make from Ushtara, we will supply you material chemistry, mechanical properties and dimensional inspection reports. These reports are clearly traceable to relevant Indian standards.

Do you even know what Chinese standards look like? here's a clue; they're in Chinese.

3. Indian Solutions to Indian Problems

i) Environment:
The story goes, that the Indian army bought a whole bunch of BMP troop carriers from Russia in the late 1980s. 

But when they were testing them in the deserts of Rajasthan the air conditioner came on and started blowing warm air into the troop compartment. Because that's what the Russians needed on the Siberian Steppe!

Here's how we solved a uniquely Indian problem with German Technology

German prosthetics don't use these bushings, because most places in Germany are not dusty.  Also Norwegian amputees don't go around planting saplings in the paddy field. Indian amputees do.

As a side note; the Chinese products have hardened steel bushings instead. Guess how long they took to rust in the torpid humidity of Chennai ... Wait for it...4 HOURS!

ii) Usage:
I am Indian, our engineers are Indian, our machines are Indian and most importantly our technology is Indian.

So what does this mean for you?
Here's an Indian solution to an Indian problem,

No European or American Product has the range of motion of the Ushtara XR2501. That's because Indians squat. The French don't.

4. Accessibility:

If you have a problem with you Samsung TV, can you call Lee Byung-chul? No way! You get an irritating phone message that says " For registering your product press 1..."

Simply put, I head Ushtara Engineering private limited. And you can talk to me about problems or suggestions regarding our products DIRECT!

I speak English, Hindi, Tamil and  Kannada fluently and Punjabi, Bengali and Telugu badly.

Don't believe me;

Here's my number : +91 99020 00483
Here's my email: sunil@ushtara.com
Here's our physical address:
Ushtara Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
No.9, Kempaiah Garden
14th Cross, Peenya Industrial Area
Bangalore - 560058

Contact me and I WILL respond, promptly and courteously!

5. Flexibility:

i) Scale:
Need just one component or sub-assembly? We'll give you just one.

Need  to borrow the knee to run a few tests? We'll gladly lend it to you for a month.

Need urgent supplies to cater to a recent natural calamity? We'll scale up with you .

We're flexible that way. We're Indian you see. Swalpa Adjust Maadi!

Try getting Ossur to respond to your time varying needs like that. Different story.

ii) Design:
Christian Medical College, Vellore, a customer of ours needed an extra long Pylon to meet the needs of an exceptionally tall individual.

Our response time: 1 working day.

Agreed, that was a fairly simple request, but the fact is we're willing to make design and manufacturing changes to meet your every need.

There you have it. 5 good reasons and 10 sub-reasons to buy Indian!

Christian Medical College, Vellore has adopted the Ushtara Polycentric Prosthetic Knee XR2501

Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore has adopted the Ushtara Polycentric Prosthetic Knee XR2501 and the associated Trans-Tibial assembly. They are using them as an alternative to more expensive European and American imports.
This comes as a huge endorsement for the capabilities of this new product.
Both technicians and the patient are satisfied with the performance.
Here are some photos (used with permission)

Want to Start a Business? Be good at your job.

A lot of people I talk to, especially people who are in a job, but trying to start a business, seem to think  that there are two distinct kinds of people. One, the Entrepreneurial kind and the other, the employee kind.

They talk at length about why they can't become business owners, because they lack a certain something. Some of them call it risk aversion, some call it lack of drive, whatever. They seem to believe deep in their hearts that they are not qualified to start a business.

Well here's the low down;

The skills required to succeed in business are EXACTLY the same as the skills required to be a good employee

This is so important, I'm going to say it again, but this time in a dark shade of blue;

The skills required to succeed in business are EXACTLY the same as the skills required to be a good employee

Now I understand that this might fly in the face of everything you've heard before. From your parents, your teachers, your colleagues and your friends.

Even a lot of business owners I know will disagree with this, but they're probably just trying to reduce the competition ;)

But I'm going to attempt to prove to you that the skills to succeed at being an employee are no different from the skills required to succeed at owning your business.

But I'm going to go about it a little obtusely. I'm going to try to demonstrate that the factors that people see as obstacles to being a business owner are the very factors they are overcoming as good employees.

Here are some of the main challenges that people perceive on  their route to entrepreneurial success;

"I can't afford the risk"

My experience working with Government Owned companies like BEML and HAL are that their employees are rewarded not for being right, but for NOT being wrong.

The top guy in the company is usually the guy who has never made any mistakes. But what are the stakes?

A small but steady government salary, a small increase every few years and gold watch when you retire at 58.

If these are things you value. Don't read further. You and I can never be friends:)

If however, you want the best that life has to offer, the freedom to live to your full potential, get a job in a company where employees who take risks are rewarded higher. Even though they sometimes fail.

Marissa Mayer was offered both a teaching job and consulting job at huge and well-renowned institutions. Instead she took a job with Google, then a small internet company. Was that a huge risk? of course it was. Did it pay off? She's now the CEO of Yahoo. Although neither she nor anyone else looks like they're going to be able to fend off Yahoo's inevitable downward spiral, she's not going to end up too badly. All because of a risk she took with a young company in 1999.

Every day you go to work in your job, you are undertaking risks. The risk that they will not be able to pay you the salary they already owe you. The risk that the company you work for will close down before you have a chance to search for another job.

So in the end, it's only perception. The risks that you take as an employee are no greater than the risk of being a business owner. With similar consequences both negative and positive.

"I don't have drive"

When I worked at GE Capital, there were three grades in the appraisal system.
The lowest grade was NEEDS IMPROVEMENT. This meant that you were not doing your job well enough to keep your job. If you were graded NI three times in a row, you were either reassigned or sacked.

The second grade was MEETS EXPECTATIONS. This grade meant  that you were in fact doing just enough to keep your job. That the metrics of your performance matched some predetermined numbers and that perhaps you might get a small pay raise to match the inflation.

The highest grade was EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS. This grade meant that you were doing more than was expected of you. In other words, that you were helping your colleagues and ultimately the whole company to be more productive and profitable. Exceeding expectations was the only way to qualify for a large pay raise and/or a promotion.

If you are boss, what kind of subordinate would you prefer? One who can take charge and get things done or one who is constantly asking for guidance and support on how to do things?

If you're like me, you would want the people reporting to you, to broadly interpret your wishes and finish tasks assigned to them without too much help. And then go ahead and do some more things simply because they need doing.

Well this is exactly the same skill that a business owner needs too.  Except that the boss is the customer.


"I don't have money"

Let's get one thing straight. Hardly any business owners start businesses with their own money. Any business owner worth his salt should be able to attract funding. Loans, equity investment whatever. This means convincing enough people to open their purse string and part with their money.

Asking for money is no different than asking for any thing else.

No matter which level you are employed at, you need to ask for things. If you are a janitor, you need to ask for better cleaning supplies. If you are purchase manager, you need to ask your suppliers to reduce prices. If you are the CEO you have to ask your board for permission to run the daring new campaign that you have envisioned.

In the end it's all about asking and asking right. As an employee you have to ask for stuff. As a business owner you have to ask for money. It's the same skill.

"I can't do sales"

Everything which you have in life. Everything which you will ever have is given to you by other people. The more people there are in your network. The more they each give you, the more you have. It's that simple.

When most people think of sales, they think of the realtor or the insurance agent or the aunt who is part of multi-level marketing network trying to hard-sell you on stuff.

But that's not all sales is. Sales, simply put, is positioning concepts in  such a way that potential customers see the value in them. That's something you are probably already doing in your job. You are already selling ideas to the management. You are already selling a pay raise to your boss.

To be a good employee or a good business owner, you need to be able to convince people to invest their money and time in your ideas. That's not negotiable.

No matter where you are in life. No matter what you do, you have to learn to sell. To your boss. To your investor. To your customers. To your peers. It makes no difference.

"I'm not a crook"

It's a commonly held belief, around the world, but especially in developing countries like India, that in order to be a successful business owner, you need to have a somewhat ambiguous moral compass. 

Now I don't want to generalize, but I won't deny that I've met my fair share of business owners who wouldn't be beyond offering a bribe to get a prized contract or calling in some political pull to reduce the service level agreement in a purchase order.

But by far, the most corrupt people I've encountered are purchase managers and they're invariably employees. The larger the company they work for, the more corrupt they tend to be.

Want my advise?

DON'T BE CROOKED. PERIOD

Crime NEVER pays. It might look like an easier route to get what you want. It might appear harmless or 'victimless' but by far the best policy is honesty and being transparently above-board.

A good employee is not amenable to being morally corrupt. Neither is a good business owner.


"I'm not a natural leader"

Most people believe that leadership is a mixture of charisma, charm, public speaking and a certain undefinable quality which you are either born with or without.

In my opinion, that's rubbish. To me leadership has a single sentence definition;

"Exhibiting strength of purpose and providing encouragement and direction to others"

Any time you delegate a task to subordinates and ensure that the task is carried through to completion, you are a leader.

Any time you convince a supplier to reduce price and increase credit periods. You are a leader.

Any time you choose an option which is better rather than easier. You are a leader.

Whether you are a business owner or an employee if you have strength of purpose and and providing encouragement and direction to others, you are a leader.

till next time

Ushtara Polycentric Knee XR2501

Run your business on AUTOPILOT

I have always wanted to mess around with machines, getting my hands dirty and having a lot of fun in the bargain.

So while I was working for Mphasis in 2004, I rented a 500 square foot shed in  Banaswadi, Bangalore, to mess around in.

I had wanted my very own lathe since I was thirteen years old, so I pitched in all my savings (scrimpings) from working at Mphasis and OfficeTiger bought one;

and then I had a  life changing epiphany;

I suck at manual work!

I was pretty good (my opinion) at conceptualizing and imagining stuff and designing on the computer, but when it really came down to making something using my hands,  I was REALLY bad at it.

I had two choices. Either work at it and get better at manual work or hire someone who was good at it.  Because I'm lazy, I chose the latter.

I interviewed a few machinists/fitters and hired Chandrashekar. My first and oldest employee.

Two words: MAGIC HANDS.

So since I had a lathe, I thought I'd go out and get some orders for it. The orders needed some drilling operations, in addition to turning, so I bought a couple bench top drilling machines.

But then, I needed people to operate them, so I hired some more people

and then Ajay Fernandes joined me and we founded Ushtara Engineering Pvt. Ltd.,  and then we got more orders  that needed milling, so we bought a CNC vertical machining center

and hired people to operate it.

And I quit my job and became a businessman full-time.

Then we got more orders so we bought more machines and hired more people until by 2010, our team looked like this;

But if some one had asked me about processes at Ushtara, I would have been like;

PROCESSES HAH!
Who needs processes when you have a Gazillion Terabyte supercomputer between your ears?

I knew every part number, every machining specification, every heat-treatment tolerance, every coating-thickness and surface-finish requirement for every part made in my shop.

I could tell you the manufacturing status of every single part at any point in time, day or night.

I was spending 16 to 24 hours a day, in the factory. Stopping only to sleep and brush my teeth.

I watched everything like a hawk. Nothing, escaped my notice.

AND THEN I GOT SICK
A searing pain in my right leg was diagnosed as Sciatica, caused by a herniated disc pressing on my sciatic nerve.

Long hours of sitting on my office chair, no exercise, minimal rest and an irregular diet had taken their toll on my body.

Two months of bed rest with minimal movement was what the doctor ordered.

When I got back to work after 2 weeks of lounging at Ajay's house (thank you Danni) and another month of rest at my parents' house in Chennai,  Ushtara was in shambles.

Parts sent to customers had been rejected because of operations not having been carried out or faulty operations.

Machines were idle while people were loafing about.

Schedules had been missed.

The shop floor was in disarray.

Customers were on the verge of finding alternative suppliers.

Simple things like paper in the printer and tools in the machines had not be bought simply because no one knew how or who was responsible.

All this in a month and a half!

This would not do!

That's when we decided that we needed processes.
Processes that would tell people what to do and how to do it and when to do it.

In other words;

PROCESSES WOULD REPLACE ME
Processes would dictate when material was bought.
Processes would guide people on how to manufacture the parts and how and when to send them out.
Processes would show people what to do when we got a new order.
and so on.

If the word process in this context sounds confusing,  here's the low down;

Processes are things happening in defined ways

That's it!

Define a standard way of doing ANYTHING. Then make sure people do this thing in this standard way. Now you have a process.

The obvious outcome of this, is that people will know what to do ALL the time and so you don't need to be there to tell them what to do.

When an organization does this kind of standardized work, you can get a certificate that says so;

It took us a long time and a lot of effort to implement our processes.

The quality of our parts became consistently good.
Parts went out to the customer on time.
Customers were happier because they could rely on us
We made more money because we wasted less time and resources.

Perhaps most importantly;

PROCESSES FREE UP MY TIME
I can do important stuff like go to the movies on a Wednesday afternoon with my wife :)

And also stuff like envisioning the future of my company, networking with potential customers, learning about microcontrollers from this guy and this guy and programming from this guy  and sharing my knowledge on my blog.

And I can do all of this, secure in the knowledge that it's business as usual at the factory.

WHEN TO GET IN YOUR PROCESSES' WAY
But it doesn't end there.

Nothing is so good that it can not be improved.
Periodically, I go in and mess up a process, just to see whether it can get better.

But then that's a process too. We have a defined process for continual improvement!

Till next time

Sunil

Do You Have what it Takes to be A Business Owner?

While no set of personality traits assures success in business, all of us have the following traits in some measure. Take this quiz to help you define yourself and your potential partners.

This quiz is part of a post on finding partners for yourself in your business.

Personality Traits – Aligned.These are personality traits that Business Partners need to share in equal measure. Imbalance in these traits often leads to conflict.

Scoring: Choose the statement that describes you best. If you are a 1 or a 2 in any area, get partners who are a 1 or a 2 in those areas and vice versa.

CAN YOU ACCEDE CONTROL FOR THE COMMON GOOD?

1. Absolutely. I realize that others might be better at some things than me
2. Yes. If I'm convinced
3. It's difficult  for me to do
4. Nope

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH AMBIGUITY?

1. Yes. Life is shades of grey
2. Don't like it, but I can deal with it
3. As long as I have 90% of the facts
4. Hate it!

CAN YOU BE DESCRIBED AS TENACIOUS?

1. Yes. I never give up. EVER.
2. Sure, as long as there's light at the end of the tunnel
3. Well, sometimes the odds are stacked against you...
4. If it's not happening, might as well do something else

ARE YOU A FAST LEARNER?

1. Gimme 2 months and I'll learn Korean (fill in some other language if you ARE Korean :) )
2. I've mastered what I do at work everyday
3. I have to work really hard at it
4. I already know everything I need to.

HOW OPTIMISTIC ARE YOU?

1. The silver lining is so big I can hardly see the cloud!
2. I'm up beat more than 90% of the time
3. I think I'm what's called a realist
4. I'm not learning anything from this quiz

Personality Traits – Opposed.These are personality traits that business partners need to have in complementary quantities. For example, if you are very pragmatic, your partner should be more idealistic, for the good of the business.

Scoring: Choose the statement that describes you best. If you are a 1 or a 2 in any area, get partners who are a 3 or a 4 in those areas and vice versa.

HOW PRAGMATIC ARE YOU?

1. I pride myself on being level headed
2. Most of the time
3. I prefer to see possibilities rather than realities
4. My wife/husband/friend/brother is the down-to-earth one in the family

ARE YOU DETAIL ORIENTED?

1. Extremely. I am a perfectionist
2. Yes, but I realize that the last 10% consumes 90% of effort.
3. Hate it but I can knuckle down to it when required
4. I prefer to delegate

CAN YOU BE DESCRIBED AS AGGRESSIVE?

1. Absolutely. I have HUGE goals and limited time
2. I am more aggressive in thought than in action
3. I prefer the word assertive. Aggressive is, well,...too aggressive
4. I hate aggressive people. Just let me be

ARE YOU GREGARIOUS?

1. Haha. I'm the life of the party. ANY party
2. I have 800 friends on Facebook and I know them all personally
3. I can smile at people I don't like but there better be a good reason
4. These people on Facebook with 800 friends are so FAKE!

WOULD PEOPLE CALL YOUR REBELLIOUS?

1. You really think you can slot me into some kinda box with your stupid quiz?
2. Deep down I have pink hair and a ring on my nipple
3. I'm comfortable with the system and I can manipulate it
4. People with pink hair and nipple rings are FREAKS!

HONESTLY, ARE YOU CHARISMATIC?

1. When I talk to a room full of people they listen with mouths open
2. I am generally able to build consensus in a group
3. Charisma can be learned
4. Why do I always end up doing things I didn't want to?

go to the blog post on finding your ideal business partner

or take the quiz on essential Business Owner Skills


Like this post? Now pay me ONE DOLLAR ! :)

Find a Business Partner

When I started Ushtara , in 2002, I started it as a Proprietary Concern. At the time, it seemed the best thing to do, because, I had complete independence to do anything I wanted. I was the lord and master.

But I realized after a while that the business could grow much faster if there were other people involved.
some of my reasons for feeling this way were;

a) Running a business is a multi-skill undertaking. Although a business owner needs to have a wide range of skills, from finance to product/service expertise to HR, there are times when you will need people with special expertise in some of these areas.

b) It is physically impossible to run a business single handed. It is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week job.

c) Brainstorming with competent people of varied specializations, brings out better ideas than you can generate, by yourself.

What most new business owners, when they want to bring in another person into the business, is to approach their closest friend, to become their business partner.

I decided to go a different route.

FIND A PARTNER AND MAKE HIM YOUR FRIEND
I decided that the business' and my own best interests would be served best if I could find a business partner, who had all the skills I lacked.

I met my business partner, Ajay Fernandes, in 2004. He is a perfect fit for me and for the business.
Soon after we found each other, we became very good friends in addition to being equal partners in the business. Together, we have grown as individuals, grown as a company and grown as friends over the course of almost a decade.

I feel fully confident that we will continue to be friends as well as business partners for the rest of our lives.

When I tell people this story, they tell me that I'm very lucky to have found a great business partner/friend.

I Agree.

But I don't think it's all down to luck. I followed a systematic process to find a business partner. And so can You.

ANALYSE YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS AS A BUSINESS OWNER
When I was looking for a business partner, I first had to look inside myself to find out what I lacked.
Have you ever played Tetris?

Well Business Associates are like that. Each of them has some some high points and some holes. The high points are like your strengths and the holes are like your weakness. When the right business partners meet, they compliment each other perfectly (they might have to re-orient themselves sometimes, again, just like Tetris).

When this happens, you and your business move to the next level.

Take this Business Owner Skill Set Quiz. It will help you analyze who you are, in terms of being a Business Owner.

Remember that your strengths and weaknesses change over time and so do your business partners. So you will have to carry out this analysis over and over, periodically over the course of your business career.

MAKE UP AN AD FOR YOUR IDEAL BUSINESS PARTNER
Now that you know who you are, you know who you are not.
Finding your ideal business partner just got one step easier.

Finding yourself a spouse, has never been  easier. Just write up an advertisement, describing the ideal person, personality, physical traits, ethnicity...
Then post this ad on any or all of a hundred different dating and matrimony sites and hey presto! specialized algorithms find your ideal life partner.

That might be a little optimisitic :), but the advantage of writing an advertisement is that it forces you to think about EXACTLY what you want.

Finding a business partner is similar to finding a spouse. With the same kind of close interactions and potential conflicts. This is why I recommend that you write out an ad for your ideal business partner.

Once you have made up the ad, tell EVERYBODY about it. Your friends, family and acquaintances. Put it up on Facebook and Linkedin. EVERYWHERE.

In the due course of time you will find your ideal business partner.

PARTNERS CONNECT ON MANY LEVELS
In addition to core business skills, the personalities of the business associates and the interaction of these personalities is critical to the success or failure of  a business.

You can never have enough of certain personality traits in a business, like tenacity and optimism. It is advisable that all the business associates have loads of these traits. If not, all of the associates should have these traits in the same measure. When these traits, that I call Aligned Personality Traits are very different in the associates,  conflict is frequent.

On the other hand another set of personality traits, the Opposed Personality Traits, work differently. These traits should occur in complementary pairs, for example, two business partners, both highly pragmatic, can ruin a business by being overly concerned about day to day realities.

Take the Business Owner Personality Quiz, to see what your business personality is like and what your partners should be like.

A STORY ABOUT SKILL SETS AND PERSONALITIES
In 2007, we bought another company called Nuetech CNC Machining Solutions Pvt. Ltd. The company was in a similar line to us and the selling price was low, so it made sense to buy the company.

The company was owned by 3 guys, who used to be peers at Hindustan Machine Tools. They had resigned their jobs to start the company.

Within 6 months of starting in business, they started squabbling. Within 2 years, the situation had become so bad because of their internal strife that business had come down to zero. So they decided to sell the business.

So intense were their hatred for each other that they couldn't even come together for the purpose of selling the company, and the sale had to brokered by a third party.

Why did this happen?

They had exactly the same skill set. They were all Engineers with a background in machine tools, from the same organization. None of them knew anything about other aspects of business like Finance or the Law.

They had opposing personalities where aligned personality traits are called for like tenacity and ability to learn.

They had similar personalities where opposed personality traits are called for like, pragmatism and attention to detail.


Their downfall was inevitable.

Till Next Time

Sunil

Business Owner Skill Set Quiz

A particular set of skill or personality traits in a business owner does not guarantee success in business. However, any business NEEDS a certain number of specific skills. Working with what you have, you can then partner with others to complete the multi-skill team required to make your business a high-flyer.

These are some skills that all businesses need. It is impossible for any one person to have expertise in all of these areas. However, it is important for any business owner to have to have a working knowledge of all of them. An ideal business, should have at least one expert in each of the below areas, with all of the associates having a thorough comprehension of every area.

This quiz will help you define yourself and your potential partners.

This quiz is part of a post on finding partners for yourself in your business.

Scoring: Choose the statement that describes you best. If you are a 1 or a 2 in any area, get partners who are 3 to 5 in those areas and a 1 or a 2 elsewhere. Simple!

               HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT YOUR CORE PRODUCT OR SERVICE?

1.     I am an acknowledged expert on the subject

2.     I have worked in a business in a similar industry

3.     I have some knowledge of the the product/service

4.     Still learning

5.     Don't know don't care. My expertise is different.

               HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW FINANCE?

1.     I am a chartered accountant. I know even the loop holes

2.     I have an in-depth understanding of finance even though I have no formal training

3.     I am able to work with an accounting package and understand credits and debits

4.     I can balance my check book

5.     Finance is for nerds. My expertise is different.

               HOW CONVERSANT ARE YOU WITH LAWS RELEVANT TO YOUR BUSINESS?

1.     I am a lawyer with years of experience in business law and contracts

2.     I am able to independently draft, review and ratify contracts 

3.     I have an understanding of relevant laws but I am no expert

4.     I don't know any thing about the law

5.     Laws and legal matters are scary for me. I prefer to avoid anything to do with them

               WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HR?

1.     I am an HR professional. I have created hiring processes, contracts, the whole deal

2.     I have worked in an HR role, hiring people, but I am not an expert

3.     I have worked in a leadership role, often participating in HR activities

4.     HR is about people. What's not to know?

5.     I don't want to work with people. My interests lie elsewhere

               HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MARKETING?

1.     I have independently created the design and implementation of successful marketing plans involving a large number of people and resources

2.     I have been a part of a team implementing successful marketing strategies

3.     I have done some marketing as an individual

4.     I realize that marketing is different from sales

5.     Marketing is just another name for lying. I do something else really well

               WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL OF EXPERTISE WITH NEGOTIATION AND SALES?

1.     In my previous job role, I successfully institutionalized negotiation and sale across a large team

2.     I have successfully negotiated and created win-win situations on large deals

3.     I have closed sales, but I'm not good at negotiation

4.     I am very poor at sales

5.     My product / service is so good, it sell itself

               CAN YOU DO CUSTOMER RELATIONS?

1.     I have created customer relations processes involving both statistical control and soft skills across a wide variety of industries and products

2.     I have been part of a team planning and implementing customer relations processes

3.     I have successfully retained disenchanted customers through my own skills

4.     I know that customer relations are important to my business' growth

5.     Customers come and customers go. I don't care

                   HAVE YOU DONE INVESTOR MANAGEMENT?

1.     I have successfully brought in and retained large investors into a business for years

2.     I have brought in some investors but I don't really know what works in keeping them

3.     I have created business cases and plans, but not got in any investors yet

4.     I have talked to many bankers and investors and I know how they assess businesses

5.     My business doesn't need investors

                   CAN YOU DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT BUSINESS PROCESSES?

1.     I have headed the business process implementation and team of a large organization

2.     I have worked in a team implementing business processes across functions

3.     I am able to envision processes as flow charts while being aware of the fact that they depict people 

4.     I have a feeling that having processes can improve my business

5.     What processes? We make the product and customers buy it. That's all my business is about

go back to the main post finding your ideal business partner

Or take the Business Owner Personality Quiz